


Not a Necklace

by Snegurochka



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-08
Updated: 2007-09-08
Packaged: 2017-10-11 00:02:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/106016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snegurochka/pseuds/Snegurochka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asking Luna Lovegood if she would be willing to break a few rules was something like asking a Puffskein if it would be willing to have a go on the dance floor, Ginny decided early in their sixth year at school: in both cases, you would be asking the wrong question.</p><p>1,200 words. PG. DH-era. September 2007.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not a Necklace

Asking Luna Lovegood if she would be willing to break a few rules was something like asking a Puffskein if it would be willing to have a go on the dance floor, Ginny decided early in their sixth year at school: in both cases, you would be asking the wrong question. It wasn't that Luna was rebellious, but rather that _breaking_ rules required one to acknowledge that they existed in the first place, and Luna had never been very good at that.

This was a girl, after all, who had missed dinner every night during her first week at Hogwarts because she wouldn't get off the moving staircases.

"Aren't they lovely?" she had asked Ginny dreamily one night as the crowds pushed past her, fingers curled around the banister and head thrown back as though the glacial pace of the thing was actually causing a breeze. "All you need to do is stand still, and eventually you'll get to where you want to go."

Exasperated and hungry, Ginny had stormed down the stairs past her and hopped over the railing to the next staircase as it crawled by. "It's awful!" she'd called back. "How are we supposed to get anywhere on time? Staircases… shouldn't… _move_," she'd added with another stomp of her feet, jumping off at the bottom and racing to the Great Hall.

But Luna went through life as though it were all just one big moving staircase, a series of twists and turns that one should embrace for its unpredictability rather than scorn for its lack of structure, and Ginny couldn't help but come to grudgingly admire her for it. It came in especially handy, after all, when she concluded that stealing the sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office would, on the whole, require a fair degree of rule breaking.

Luna simply nodded when Ginny told her the plan. "I see," she said. "Do you think Sanguini would like to help? He would know Snape's office quite well."

Ginny blinked. "Er- the vampire?"

"Yes. He's Snape's half-brother, after all."

"Um. Right." Ginny paused. "Well, maybe next time? Um. We don't have… his address. So… maybe Neville would be better?"

Luna nodded again, her face solemn. "He _does_ have nicer teeth," she agreed, "and he always wants to help Harry. He's a bit like you in that, isn't he?"

Ginny frowned. "Well, _everyone _wants to help Harry, don't they?"

"Yes, I think so," said Luna. "But the rest of us don't really want to snog him as much as you and Neville. I think it's nice," she added. "Everyone should have someone who wants to snog them. Especially when they're in hiding."

"I… well, yes, I suppose everyone should have that." Ginny thought about it, shifting in her seat to tuck one leg underneath her. "But Harry and I aren't– Wait. _Neville_?"

"Yes, I think he should help. He's quite good with plants, you know."

"No, I mean, Neville and _Harry_." Ginny squeezed her eyes shut. "You don't– I mean, you're just making things– Do you _know_ that? What did he tell you?"

"Sometimes he tells me about his plants," said Luna, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear and twirling her necklace in her finger. She paused before lowering her voice and leaning her head in closer to Ginny. "I think he wishes his plants were Harry."

"I… don't really know what that means."

"Watch him sometime," said Luna wisely, her voice still conspiratorial. "You'll see. And anyway, it's not so odd, thinking a plant were Harry. Sometimes I like to think that my necklace is you, after all."

Ginny looked over at her and found her finger twirling absently around the dark string of the necklace. "Me?" she asked.

"Yes. You wouldn't feel quite this prickly, I don't think, and my necklace doesn't have freckles." She thought for a moment. "But otherwise, I think you're similar."

Ginny cleared her throat and stared at the ground for a moment. She was used to being a bit flummoxed by some of the things that came out of Luna's mouth on a regular basis, but this one was a whole new level of insane. When she glanced up again, Luna's finger had paused around the string, tugging it gently away from her throat and suspending it in the air. It had tiny beads on it which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be staples, and spread evenly around the loop of string were four or five moon-shaped lemon rinds. If nothing else, Ginny had to admit that the necklace smelled nice. "Do you like to… play with… your necklace… like that?"

"Yes. It feels nice on my finger. I think you would feel nice on my finger, too."

Ginny coughed.

"It's okay. I know you would rather have Harry on your finger."

Ginny clamped her mouth shut and tried to close her mind to that visual. "I… well. I don't know about that."

"Really?"

Ginny glanced up. "Well, I mean, Harry and I aren't… you know."

"Because of Neville and his plants?" prompted Luna, moving a bit closer.

"I… sure. Or maybe because of you and your necklace?" She smiled, nudging Luna with her elbow and falling back into the sofa. "You realise you're mad, don't you?" she said with a laugh, but Luna only shrugged.

"People say so," she agreed, "but you know, a plant isn't a necklace." Her voice was still dreamy, but with a hint of caution to it. "And I'm not Harry. Except perhaps if he asked me to be," she added. "As a disguise."

Ginny nodded, shifting a bit closer. "You're not Harry," she murmured, "and you're not a plant."

"And you're not a necklace," said Luna with a smile, tilting her head back as Ginny reached out. Her index finger hooked under the string around Luna's neck, carefully avoiding a slice of lemon rind and the prick of a staple, and began to slide slowly around until she reached the side of Luna's neck, brushing her finger over the soft skin there. She paused to think for a second.

"About how many rules do you think this breaks?" she asked, her voice mischievous as she leaned in closer to Luna to smell the soft scent of lemon and string in her hair. They were sitting on a sofa, but Ginny felt a slow, crawling movement underneath her as if she was on a staircase that had begun to shift.

"Oh, I don't think there are any rules about necklaces," said Luna calmly, one hand coming to rest on Ginny's thigh. "That's why I like to make them myself. No one can ever say they're the wrong kind."

Ginny smiled.

"Well, it's possible that Headmaster Snape would say so," she added, tilting her head to the side. Her innocent face looked back at Ginny. "Do you think he'll take my necklace away if we get caught with the sword?"

Ginny laughed, burying her face in Luna's hair. "Yes," she said with a nod. "I think he just might. But that would be okay, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose so," said Luna. "After all, you're not a necklace."

 

-fin-


End file.
